Has the Deep State Gotten to Trump?

Just days after his historic ascension to President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump has people you would not expect worried…

This time the concern isn’t coming from his political opposition in the Democratic Party and its shills in the mainstream media.

No, this pressure being directed at Trump is friendly fire from his loyal base.

I’m talking about the grassroots voters who elected him to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C.

And they’re uneasy about exactly what type of plans Trump has in the works…

Chock Full of Cronies

What has Trump’s supporters worried?

Well, the initial steps he has taken to “drain the swamp” have ticked off those looking to root out the cesspool of corruption in Washington, D.C.

One of the first moves has been to float the possibility of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as his Treasury Secretary.

Dimon says he’s not interested in the job.

But the fact that Trump may be interested in Dimon tells us that cleaning out D.C. will not be easy…

JP Morgan Chase has been a cesspool of crony capitalism corruption during Dimon’s tenure…

The mega-bank has paid out multibillions to settle charges of wrongdoing in recent years, including financial crisis-related mortgage-securities malfeasance, foreclosure fraud and abuse, and investor fraud.

Not exactly the first choice you’d think of as a reformist Treasury Secretary.

But that’s just one Cabinet name that’s been floated. Maybe there’s hope for other departments…

Who else is Trump considering? It’s a “who’s who” of Washington insiders…

Here’s this from Politico…

“Former Bush officials are expected to find a place in Trump’s Cabinet too. Pamela Patenaude, a potential pick to lead Housing and Urban Development, was an assistant HUD secretary under the younger Bush; William Evers, a possible pick for Education Secretary, worked at the younger Bush’s Education Department; Victoria Lipnic, a candidate for Labor Secretary, worked at his Labor Department; and Robert Grady, who served the elder Bush, is seen as a candidate to lead Interior, Energy, EPA or the Office of Management and Budget.”

From this list, it looks like the typical elite players from the same old merry-go-round have successfully infiltrated Trump’s influential transition team.

On the other hand, Steve Bannon of Breitbart has been appointed as senior adviser. That’s good news for President-elect Trump supporters who want ass-kicking first, taking names second.

The End of the Revolution?

Look, as of now the Cabinet appointments beyond Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are all press speculation.

And as we saw during the election, the press hasn’t reported fairly or honestly on Trump throughout. I don’t expect them to start now.

With that said, Trump’s transition team is also surprisingly rife with long-time members of the ruling elite, including former Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Bush administration official and lobbyist Christine Ciccone and former Dick Cheney adviser Ado Machida.

It’s hard to imagine those folks recommending a slate of troublemaking outsiders to Cabinet positions.

Lesley Stahl of “60 Minutes” recently asked Trump about the number of insiders on his transition team.

He replied: “I’m saying that they know the system right now, but we’re going to phase that out.”

Look, it’s still entirely possible that Trump will be the wildcard he’s been throughout the campaign by appointing candidates of his choosing.

Right now, I am hearing from a reliable source at the Republican National Committee that there’s a tight-knit group of people, including his adult children, who are pushing the mantra: “Break eggs, fear nothing. This is one term to fix the country.”

Let’s all dare to be optimistic.

Breaking eggs is music to my ears.

I hope they smash eggs, throw eggs and scramble every damn egg they can find.

About Michael Covel:

Michael has been teaching trend following strategies to individual traders, students, hedge funds, pensions and family offices for the past two decades. He has helped more than 7,000 clients in over 70 countries learn how to make money with trend following.

Fascinated by like-minded traders that quietly generate spectacular returns, he has uncovered astonishing insights about how they think, strategize and execute their systems. His impressive network of contacts among the best traders in the world has given Michael a unique edge in the world of quantitative trend following investments.

Michael is also the voice behind Trend Following Radio, the underground alternative hit that has been as high as #2 on iTunes investing channel reaching 182 countries & territories with over 3 million listens. Guests have included Nobel Prize winners in economics (such as Daniel Kahneman and Harry Markowitz) and some of the best traders in the world (such as Ed Seykota and Larry Hite, who have been featured in the famous book Market Wizards.)